Cong MPs walk out of Lok Sabha, to boycott PM
Friday, 10/02/2017
http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=172998&boxid=65315&uid=&dat=2017-02-10
New Delhi: Congress members on Thursday staged a walkout of the Lok Sabha protesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dig at his predecessor Manmohan Singh in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Party Leader in the House Mallikarjun Kharge tried to raise the issue as soon as the Zero Hour began but the Speaker disallowed him, saying a matter relating to the other House cannot be raised.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar also said the issue cannot be raised here. Whatever Modi has said about Singh is not good for parliamentary democracy, Kharge said before the Speaker cut him off. With party president Sonia Gandhi looking on, Congress members trooped into the Well demanding that the Prime Minister apologise for his remarks.
An irate Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said they were snatching away the rights of other members as they have got the chance to speak during the Zero after several days on Thursday. Kharge said what Modi had said was an insult to the country. With the Speaker continuing with Zero Hour proceedings, Congress members staged a walkout.
“We will boycott the Prime Minister. We will not listen to him, but we will not assault the dignity of the office of the Prime Minister. At the same time, we will continue to protest, we know that he is an obdurate person. It is sad that we have an arrogant person who occupies the chair of the Prime Minister. He has demeaned his office repeatedly by his choice of words and language,” Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma told reporters.
